Imperfections
by Robinl1278
Summary: This is a short story, will probably only encompass an update or three. It deals with Rhett and Scarlett, shortly following the ending of Scarlett the book. I hope it isn't too far offbase...
1. Chapter 1

Scarlett explained away the uneasiness which overwhelmed not only her mind, but her lithe form as she stood before him. It had been such a long time since they had last been together. Too long. And though she had longed for it, even dreamt of it, she was apprehensive now that the inevitable was upon her. Would it be as she remembered? Would she disappoint him? She had certainly done more than her fair share of it in the past, both behind and in front of closed doors. She'd driven him away. She was cold to him for the majority of their married life together, indifferent and detached. And then, when she least expected, Rhett returned to her. Scarlett was now presented the opportunity to mend the wrongs of the past. Throughout their estrangement and her subsequent yearning for Rhett, she had plotted out in her mind how she would make it all up to him and was confident she could and would do it should he allow her circumstance to do so.

Gazing at him, only steps away from her, Scarlett wondered if Rhett felt the same anxiousness over what was about to transpire between them as she, then quickly decided he more than likely did not. Whether he did or did not was of no matter, she reasoned. He would put on no outward display of it if that were the case. She continued to stand mute, as did he, each of them holding the other's gaze in the dim light provided by the flicker of the lone candle in the room. Though the silence furthered her anxiety, Scarlett found herself unable to mutter so much as a whisper to extinguish the silence between them. So, she looked at him. Not much had changed about him. He was just as tall, just as strong, and just as formidable as he had been the first time she had laid eyes on him. The lone change, that being the addition of a few more gray strands on his temple, made him even more attractive in her eyes.

"What are you thinking about, my pet...?" asked Rhett, finally breaking the uneasy quietness of the room.

His pet. How many times had she cringed at him utilizing that reference to her? And how many nights had she pined for him, wished he would appear and refer to her as 'his pet' again, all the while knowing in the back of her mind she would never hear those words again? Yet, he they were. Here he was.

Was she dreaming? Logic told Scarlett she must be. Three days had passed since he'd come to her, rescuing she and Cat, his daughter. Their daughter. She knew she should pinch herself, but feared doing so. If she did, and proved to herself she was having another of her dreams, Scarlett was all too aware she'd be incapable of withstanding it.

"Scarlett...," he whispered to her once more, drawing himself close enough that she was enabled to breathe in the faint scent of cigar and brandy on his breath.

This was real. His outstretched hand, lightly taking her wrist and pressing it to his lips was real. Though she'd often thought she didn't deserve it, Scarlett had been bestowed a second chance.

Why do I feel like a schoolgirl, she chided herself. This was only natural after all. It was what she wanted. She had known this moment would come, thought she had prepared herself for it. She had rehearsed it in her mind so many times, much of those being in the few days following their exit from the tower. Now, there was nothing in their way. They were safe, tucked inside the confines of their suite at the De Vere Cavendish hotel in London. Cat was in the adjoining room, sound asleep. No, nothing stood between them, excepting Scarlett and her thoughts which she couldn't avoid as juvenilish as she knew they were.

"You are so beautiful...," Rhett continued, his lips sending chills down her spine as they made their way on up her forearm.

Scarlett closed her eyes, relishing the heat emitted by his lips as they touched upon her skin. Yes, she was ready for this. And this time, their interlude would not be brought on by her simply doing her duties, being a submissive wife. Nor was it due to a terrible row or a 'celebration of survival' as he'd termed their time together following the storm they'd encountered the day he had taken her sailing. This time, it was mutual. No argument, or force of nature could be blamed.

Rhett's lips descended upon Scarlett's as he wrapped his arms round her, drawing her closer so that the strong muscles of his chest pressed against her bosom. She fell into him, her own arms sliding over his shoulders and caressing his neck as she returned his kisses. As he kissed and caressed her, Scarlett was reminded once again of his manliness, a masculinity that set him apart from all others. There was noone like him.

He continued kissing her, allowing his lips to trail from her lips down to her neck. While he did so, Scarlett's hands involuntarily made their way inside the opened neck of his starched, white collar shirt and she began to memorize with her fingertips each and every inch of him so that, if he woke tomorrow and realized he'd made a terrible mistake...left her...she would always have him in her mind. That, she resigned, she could live with. She might have no other, but she would always have this night.

"Such perfection..."

With skilled fingers, Rhett undid the buttons of her wrapper inducing Scarlett to release him from her grasp and simply watch as he moved to release it from her body.

Perfection, he'd termed her. Over the course of his life, Rhett had experienced more than his fair share of women. But none matched Scarlett. From her exquisite face, her feminine yet strong neckline, the swell of her breasts, the curve of her waist, none could match her. Not in body, nor in nature. As the wrapper began to fall back, Rhett's eyes roved over her in amazement, moved from her eyes, and on down her body until they reached the lengthy, inches long scar over her abdomen.

Scarlett was suddenly aware of herself when Rhett's dark eyes focused on the slightly raised discoloration of her midsection and of the sharp intake of his breath when they fell upon it. Modesty overtook lust and she moved to conceal herself, involuntarily placed both hands over it.

"Scarlett..."


	2. Chapter 2

Hope this works...I need to credit Ms. Ripley in this one as I borrowed a line or two from her which are displayed in italics. I'm not sure if that's allowed, hope someone will let me know if it isn't so that I can repair it. And thank you for the feedback thus far...:)

Chapter 2

Rhett needn't inquire as to how Scarlett acquired the ugly line which sharply contrasted with the rest of her. He already knew. It was a direct result of Cat's childbirth. And this was one of the rare moments in Rhett Butler's life where he lacked control of his normally impenetrable disposition. Because, it brought to light Cat's delivery had not been an easy one, for Scarlett or their child.

Not beyond him, was the fact his fixed gaze had made Scarlett self-conscious. In the past, he had prided himself on his capabilities in that regard. But not this time. Still, he found himself unable to remove his focus from it. This blemish signified all the ills that had transpired between them. All the pain. The hurt. And perhaps most of all, it conveyed not only much she loved him, but how much love she felt for their baby. If not, she very likely would have ridden herself of the child she had carried. After all, she knew how and had threatened to do that very thing at first learning she was pregnant with Bonnie.

One was consumed by guilt. His counterpart, however, was slowly gathering herself, creating an even rarer situation. So many times Scarlett had fiercely battled for the upper hand and lost. How many times had she plotted how to gain superiority over him, relished how she would wield it? Now, she possessed that power. But her desire for it had waned. Four...five years ago she would have held it over his head, utilized it as a weapon. But not now. Not ever.

Scarlett's hands away from her abdomen, fell so they rested loosely over her hips. "Rhett...," she calmly began, breaking the silence between them.

"I didn't know..."

"You couldn't have, Rhett. And it's nothing..."

"It is to me."

This was, perhaps, the greatest example of how she had changed, evolved into the lady Scarlett had sought after but due to circumstance, was never allowed to become. The woman who at one time would have been ashamed of the ghastly mark ceased to exist and instead, wore it with pride. What represented hurt to Rhett exemplified love to her. In truth, once the wound healed Scarlett had paid it little thought until now.

To Rhett, it was a reminder of how cruelly he had pushed her away. She had asked, begged for another chance. _I must not and will not ever see you again _and _you cannot find me Scarlett...don't try, _raced through his mind. Those were the words he'd written her just before she had left Charleston for Savannah, and then Ireland. The words of a coward, he told himself.

He could face a blockade. He could face the decent people he had profited from during the war, then practically gloated in front of afterwards. He could stand upright and face the cannonballs and gunfire shot at him in the heat of battle. He could do all of those things. Yet, he couldn't face her. And in his cowardice, he had sentenced her to withstand a pregnancy and subsequent difficult delivery all alone. That, whether Scarlett comprehended it or not, made her stronger than him.

How should she broach this subject, she wondered. She had never truly, in all their years together, partaken in any in-depth discussion with him that did not eventually erupt in an argument. Scarlett didn't want that.

"I feel I should offer you some explanation, Rhett...," she started, grappling at her robe.


	3. Chapter 3

Again, I need to pay heed to Ms. Ripley. I realize most of the readers have read the details she laid out, but I felt I should relate them from Scarlett's perspective...not sure I did it justice in this update...but I hope I laid the groundwork for the next one... And thanks again for the feedback on this story...You guys are great:)

Chapter 3

"No..," Rhett slowly drawled in response. "I believe I'm the one who should explain..."

"If you'll allow me, I believe I can make more sense of it..."

Rhett was an educated man, perhaps too educated. In his vast experience, he knew firsthand the nightmarish suffering she must have endured, all due to him. If only it had occurred to him what might have eventuated from that one time with her. It wasn't implausible. It had happened once before. And it occurred to him the reason he had not realized it was because he had not allowed himself to, instead had stopped at nothing in effort to block her from his mind and looked on her as an obstacle rather than the person she was.

"I'm not certain where to begin, other than to tell you I had a difficult labor with Cat," she continued, added,"But I suppose that's obvious to you.."

"Yes..," he wearily nodded in agreement. "I gathered that..."

Gesturing toward the high-backed ranya chairs adjacent the window overlooking the city below, Scarlett tightened her wrapper as she strode in their direction. "Why don't we sit down...?"

Rhett dutifully followed her to the window, took a seat in the chair alongside her after which Scarlett set about relating to him the story of the night Katie Colum O'Hara was born.

"I went into labor on All Hallow's Eve. A terrible storm struck up just after nightfall. The last thing I remember doing before my water broke is that I had been going over some details, ordering a mattress and sheets for the State Room where I planned to have her to be exact." A flicker of laughter befell her eyes as she stated,"Just minutes before I made a joke to Mrs. Fitzpatrick about the bed being so huge the doctor might not reach her when she came..."

At that, Scarlett paused briefly in order to gauge Rhett's reaction. If he thought her latest utterance to be humorous he did not outwardly display, however, and with the utmost seriousness induced her forward. "Go on..."

"Alright. Like I told you, it was storming something awful. After leaving the State Room, Mrs. Fitzpatrick and I walked downstairs to the kitchen. We hadn't been there long when I felt a sharp pain, first in my back then down my leg. My water broke..." Scarlett paused again only this time, it wasn't to check his response. Rather, it was due to her memory of how frightened she had been at the sight of dark liquid emitted from her and the fear she had felt not for herself, but for her baby. "I knew right away something was amiss. I was bleeding, you see..."

"I had Mrs. Fitzpatrick help me on to the table, then sent her out into the storm for a doctor..."

"Was there anyone else in the house?"

"No...," she shook her head. "I was alone..."

Rhett repeated the phrase in his head. _I was alone. _Alone and frightened. And due to me, he told himself, abandoned. What should he say? What could he say? Rhett, who could make sense of anything, put any situation in a jocular light with his sharp wit, was beyond words and thus, could only manage,"I see..."

"The pain wasn't unbearable..," Scarlett offered in effort to steal away what she knew must have been rummaging through his mind. "To be honest, I was more concerned for Mrs. Fitzpatrick than I was for myself of the baby at that point..."

A figment of her mother's teachings occurred to her as she continued to recount the story, and in looking at Rhett, knowing without him stating it what he must have been thinking, Scarlett elected to withhold the most minute details. She was, in her own way, protecting him. His quietude spoke volumes, told her of his self-condemnation. Adding to that would be of no good. "When Mrs. Fitzpatrick returned, she informed me Colum was bringing a doctor. So we waited for what, or at least seemed to me, days. When he showed up, he was accompanied by a midwife. As it turned out, the rains had flooded the river and he was unable to procure a doctor...And as for Cat, she was kicking like mad, Rhett..."

Rhett gazed on at her in sheer amazement. Here she was, relating to him the tale of what he knew was a horrific experience. And yet, there was no anger in her voice. No semblance of her attempting to bestow blame on him for it. Guilt that he deserved. Far removed from that, she was full of vivacity as she told of that night. She glowed. "Sounds an awful lot like her mother...," he chuckled along with her.

"Well, that isn't an altogether bad thing, I hope...," she retorted, laughter apparent in her voice.

"Not at all..."

"I thought you might say that..."

Yes, she had changed, he thought to himself. Many aspects of her were different. But not everything. Her ability to flirt had not diminished, nor had her competence to coax a man into falling in love with her simply by bestowing him with a smile though Rhett reminded himself it was her scowl that first endeared her to him, set her apart from all others. He became so caught up in it he was forced to remind himself of the discussion at hand. "Please continue..."

"The midwife...," Scarlett's voice broke off as she contemplated how to describe the woman whom she knew was there in the room, but possessed only a vague physical memory of. "She was...inadequate..."

"And to be honest, I don't recall a great deal except to say I remember Mrs. Fitzpatrick sending her away. From that point, I don't remember much and what I do know was told to me by Colum and Mrs. Fitzpatrick..."

"And that was...?"

"Not long after the midwife was removed from the room, the cailleach appeared..."

"Grainne...?"

"Yes. The wise woman Cat spoke of in the tower. I do recall her standing over me at some point, pouring some foreign liquid in my mouth. I'm not certain what it was, only recall that I was powerfully thirsty and lurched my head forward to accept it...It might have been laudanum, but I can't say for certain..."

"Then...?"

"And then...she performed the surgery and delivered Cat..."

With Bonnie, she had been surrounded by those who cared most about her. Rhett, Melly, Mammy, and Dr. Meade. Yes, Mrs. Fitzpatrick and Colum adored Scarlett and he was thankful, grateful for their presence with her. But that did nothing to influence Rhett's guilt over his absence.

"She was so beautiful, Rhett..."

Had she been in America, with him, Scarlett would have had the best medical care. Instead, both she and their baby were forced to rely on a 'wise woman'. She should have given birth in the comfort of a thick, woolen mattress. Instead, she had given birth on a table. How could he ever compensate for that?

She should have been angry with him but she was not. Far removed, she was beautiful, even more beautiful than she had been on their day of sailing when Rhett had been unable to remove his eyes from her despite her ridiculous attire. He did not know this woman before him. And though she was a stranger to him now, his love for her had not lessened. Rather, he loved her more.


End file.
